IDP Fantasy Football Starts & Sits for Week 5 (2023)

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Welcome to our fifth IDP Start & Sit article at Fantasy In Frames for the 2023 fantasy football season!

Hey everyone, it’s Nate Marcum (@natemarcum on Twitter/X). Whether you’re newer to IDP or have been playing for years, my goal of these starts and sits is to provide you with stud picks I’m a huge fan of each week, from your top-tier players to play in your shallow leagues down to deeper league options. However, with the good picks come the ones I am less high on that you should consider alternatives for each week. You can check out my back-to-back Top 10 Fantasy Pros ECR Competition rankings here at Fantasy In Frames weekly to help give you the winning edge to your weekly matchups! Here are my IDP Fantasy Football Starts & Sits for Week 5 (2023).

Starts

1. Jalen Carter (PHI) v LAR
   1. His 20 pressures only trail Aaron Donald among interior defensive lineman
   2. Fletcher Cox ruled OUT for matchup, could lead to an even larger snap% for Carter
   3. Rams’ have allowed the 5th most pressures, with G Joe Noteboom and C Coleman Shelton both being among the leaders in pressures allowed.
2. Samson Ebukam (IND) v TENN
   1. Defensive Ends on the Rt side and ROLB have feasted against the Titans on the season.  
   2. In each week, the Titans have allowed at least four sacks.  On the season, they have allowed 16 sacks.  
   3. LT Andre Dillard is the league-leader in sacks allowed…not an award you want if you’re Ryan Tannehill.  Ebukam should see a full workload of Dillard in Week 5
3. Cameron Jordan (NO) v NE
   1. Has led the team in pressures each week, yet only has a .5 sack to his name.
   2. Patriots RT, Vederian Lowe, has been a turnstile over the past two weeks, allowing 17 pressures and 14 QB hurries.

Sit 

1. Yetur Gross-Matos (CAR) v DET

• If you are in a super deep league and thinking about starting Gross-Matos, just don’t.  I have two words for you..
• Penei Sewell
• By proxy, this could be an anti-Brian Burns situation as well.  If the Lions decide to double Burns and let Sewell live on an island by himself, it could be a long day for Burns. 

2. Byron Young (LAR) v PHI

• Love to see what the rookie has done so far on the season.  16 pressures and two sacks!  
• Unfortunately, this week he gets to face the Eagles, and their Top 3 O-line.  
• Jordan Mailata and Landon Dickerson make a formidable duo on the left side

Start

1. Preston Smith (GB) v LV
   • Khalil Mack just put on a clinic against this Raiders O-line, notably Jermaine Eluemanor.  
   • Preston Smith leads all Edge Rushers in solo tackles (15).  
   • The abillity to add in a sack or two on top of a solid tackle floor is incredible. 
   • Don’t love an OLB in my LB spot, but if you can insert him into DL, he is an incredible matchup

2. Patrick Queen (BAL) v PITT

• Patrick Queen has a vendetta against Mike Tomlin and the Steelers after a comment Tomlin made about his “worthiness” as a Raven
• No team has blitzed their LBs more than the Ravens.
• Steelers are 28th in pass-protection efficiency.
• Queen is the 13th most targeted LB, a hobbled Kenny Pickett could lead to more turnover-worthy plays.

3. Denzel Perryman (HOU) v ATL

• Perryman is back at practice and appears to be back in line for a full three-down role.
• Perryman is the Texans’ best run-stopping LB.  Despite only playing in two games on the season, Perryman’s eight run stops are 28th, and his 17% run-stop rate is 6th in the NFL.

Sit

1. Jerome Baker (MIA) v NYG

• Losing his grip on the LB1 role in MIA
• Snaps continue to trend in a bad direction, and with a team that runs a lot of single LB sets, it’s disappointing

2. Christian Harris (HOU) v ATL

• Return of Perryman reduces an already dwindling snap%
• Coming off of a huge Week 4 (12 tackles), it’s easy to assume that he has earned the PT, but To’oTo’o and Perryman look to have the edge in playing time

3.  Divine Deablo (LV) v GB

• Snaps have steadily declined week over week.
• 6.5% tackle efficiency in Week 4

Start

1. Kyle Dugger (NE) v NO

• Back in the box where he belongs!  Such a better IDP option when near the line of scrimmage
• Saints have allowed 4th most points to Safety position.

2. Tracy Walker III (DET) v CAR

• Carolina has allowed the most points to the S position and has run the 8th most offensive plays from scrimmage.
• Brian Branch isn’t at 100% after suffering an ankle injury in Week 4
• Walker has had multiple attempts at an INT but has come up short. 

     3.   Rudy Ford (GB) v LV

• 22 tackles and two PDs over the past three games. 
• The Raiders have yet to establish a running game, which means plenty of passing downs for Ford’s benefit.

Sit

1. Jordan Poyer (BUF) v JAX

• After missing Week 4 due to injury and random snaps over the previous two weeks, inserting Poyer in his first game back is risky. 
• Last week vs ATL was the first time that at safety has scored >10 fantasy points against the Jags

2. Alontae Taylor (NO) v NE

• Fantastic option when facing teams with high-end slot targets
• New England hasn’t allowed an opposing slot corner to record more than four tackles since Week 1

3. Harrison Smith (MIN) v KC

• Smith is most likely starting if you don’t have better options, but don’t chase last week’s performance.  
• The Vikings are blitzing Smith and Co. more than ever before, but they haven’t faced Patrick Mahomes.  
• Mahomes has only been sacked twice all season, and the Chiefs haven’t allowed a double-digit scoring S in the past two weeks.